


In Her Wake: The Elven Ruins

by rachelsstorm



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dragon Age: Inquisition Multiplayer, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 04:49:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16737406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rachelsstorm/pseuds/rachelsstorm
Summary: (Contains spoilers for the main story of In Her Wake)Inquisition Lieutienant Leah leads her soldiers into a local elven ruin to investigate a report of red templar activity.





	In Her Wake: The Elven Ruins

**Author's Note:**

> This is a portion of a work-in-progress that I am releasing in honor of Dragon 4ge Day (@unofficiald4geday on Twitter). You do not need to know the rest of the story to understand this part, although it hints at other plot points within the larger story. I plan to release the whole story starting at the beginning in 2019, especially if people enjoy this part of it.
> 
> And if you're into accompanying playlists...
> 
> On Spotify: https://goo.gl/jn5xC6
> 
> Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes  
> This is War by 30 Seconds to Mars  
> I'm not Done by Fever Ray

A couple weeks after Leah was promoted to Lieutenant in the Inquisition forces she and a small party of her soldiers traveled to a nearby elven ruin to investigate red templar activity reported by their scouts. 

Based on the information in the report, it sounded like a routine operation. If it were anything like her previous experiences, they would find a camp of red templars, find out what they’re up to, and stop them. They might even discover some valuable information or an important artifact to bring back to the Inquisitor.

Leah and her squad approached the doors leading into the elven ruin.

“Let’s see if we can do this quietly,” Leah put one gloved hand against the door and nudged it open. 

The wood and hinges groaned, but did not squeal. 

“Could have been worse,” she said to her four soldiers. “Let’s go.”

Weapons drawn, they kept their footsteps soft as they entered the ruin, but soon discovered it was unnecessary. A half dozen red templars were ready and waiting for them just inside.

“Shit!” Leah’s grip tightened on her sword and she instinctively raised her shield. “They knew we were coming.”

 _And I’m the unlucky officer who walked my soldiers into it_ , Leah thought to herself.

“There’s only six of them Lieutenant,” Conrad, their two-handed warrior, said. “We can handle that.”

“There are six _here_.” Leah corrected him. “This is a big place; we don’t know how many might be waiting further within. Let’s just get through this first. Watch for traps, Maker knows they’ve had time to set them. Attack!”

Leah and her soldiers moved forward and drifted into their standard battle formation. Mara, a mage, remained further back with Levi, an archer. The two began a ranged assault as Leah and Conrad engaged two red templar guards. 

Thomas, their rogue, stepped into the shadows of the ruins and moved around the perimeter until he was behind a red templar horror. He emerged from his hiding place and plunged his daggers into the horror, taking it down. With his position revealed, he moved quickly to support Conrad and Leah in taking down their targets. 

With the help of Mara’s spells and Levi’s fire arrows the squad made quick work of the remaining red templars.

“See? That wasn’t so bad,” Conrad said when they were finished.

Leah eyed him and sheathed her sword. “I still don’t like this. Wait here a moment.”

She walked over to the doorway into the next room. She flattened herself against the doorframe and peered down the stairs. 

“Lieutenant?” Levi said.

Leah held a hand up and pressed a finger to her lips. She ducked and turned the corner, hiding behind a crate. So far she counted three more red templars on and around the stairs. 

When none of them were looking her way she crept towards the railing and looked down into the rest of the room. There was an archer and another horror. She left the room and returned to her soldiers. 

“There are at least five more in there. Maybe more in the next room at the bottom of the stairs, I couldn’t see,” Leah sighed. 

“What do you want to do, ser?” Mara asked. 

Leah looked around at each of their faces. “This could be an impossible task. We could all perish if half the damn templars are hiding somewhere in here. But,” she took a deep breath and let it out. “If that isn’t the case it could be a good chance to strike a serious blow against their army. I won’t know until we explore more of the ruins.”

“If we took out a few dozen red templars on our own we’d be heroes,” Conrad said.

“Or we’d be dead,” Leah gave him a hard stare. “Don’t take this lightly, or kid yourselves with thoughts of glory. If we’re careful and take the time to be strategic, we can go room by room without attracting more soldiers than we can handle at a time. It won’t be easy. It may cost all of our lives. I’d rather mine than yours, since I’m the one leading you into this clusterfuck of a mission.”

“We understand, ser.” Thomas piped up. “Don’t we Conrad?”

The warrior nodded. 

“I know I didn’t join the Inquisition because it was easy or safe.” Thomas said. “It’s a perilous job, this. But I’ll do anything I can to stop these bastards. I say we keep going.”

Mara and Levi looked at each other.

“Same here.” Levi said. “We’re with you, Lieutenant.”

Leah nodded. “Okay. We’ll keep going. No heroics,” she looked at Conrad again. “Let’s hope I didn’t just doom us all.”

Leah and her soldiers continued through the ruins. Their strategy appeared to be working in their favor, but there was no end to the squads of red templars they encountered. Room after room they fought, and it was beginning to wear on them.

Less than halfway through the ruins the squad was working together to take down a red templar knight. Thomas emerged from the shadows to finish off the knight. As soon as he did, he was swarmed by guards. 

“I need help, I can’t break free!” he shouted. 

Mara cast every defensive and healing spell she could in order to keep him alive, and Levi picked off the guards with his arrows. Leah and Conrad fought through the throng around Thomas with their swords, but there were too many. He was dead by the time they defeated the last guard.

“Shit,” Leah turned away from Thomas’ body.

“Ser,” Levi shut his eyes and did the same. “We should keep moving.”

Leah gave a frustrated sigh. She tried to shake the sense of foreboding that crept up on her. “You’re right. Let’s not let his death be for nothing.”

“Agreed,” Mara said. 

Once they lost Thomas, the party stopped exploring the sealed treasure rooms scattered throughout the ruins. At first Leah had agreed to check them; there could be something important hidden away that the Inquisitor could use against Corypheus. But it wasn’t worth the risk anymore. Their only goal now was to survive the assault and report back to Skyhold. 

Despite their caution, Conrad was the next to fall. While he was fighting a guard, a stealthed red templar shadow crept up and stabbed him half a dozen times before anyone realized it was there. 

Once the party was aware of the shadow, Mara paralyzed it with a lightning bolt and Leah bashed it with her shield. That discharged even more electrical damage to the shadow and killed it. When it was safe Mara attempted to heal Conrad, but his wounds were too deep. He closed his eyes and took his last breath. 

“I’m so sorry,” Mara whispered to him. 

Leah wondered if they should abandon their task. If the previous fights were any indication, they would need additional soldiers to survive the ruins. On the other hand, if they had already defeated most of the red templars, they might be able to finish off the stragglers. It was the same difficult call that had faced her earlier: give up and risk a few remaining red templars escaping, or press forward and risk their lives.

During the next skirmish, a red templar guard rushed Levi as he nocked an arrow. The templar stabbed him, and a second later Leah bashed the guard over the head with her shield. She plunged her sword down into the templar to finish him off. Levi was hurt, but alive. 

Then Leah heard Mara cry out. Another red templar had crept up behind her while she prepared a healing spell and thrust his sword into her shoulder. Mara had the presence of mind to stun him. 

Leah dashed over to her mage and slew the red templar before he could recover. Mara’s wound was serious, and she was bound to suffer more the further they went into the ruins. 

Once she was alone with her two remaining soldiers, Leah took time to think. This was a losing battle, and she did not want to see two more Inquisition soldiers die. 

“This was a mistake. You must go back. Alert the Inquisition. Tell them we need reinforcements at the ruins. We can’t win this alone. I’ll stay and keep them distracted.”

“Lieutenant, someone needs to stay here with you to fight them off!” Mara insisted.

“No, you should come with us. Let’s retreat like you said earlier. Let the Commander send a full regiment to clear out the rest of the ruins.” Levi countered.

Leah shook her head. “No. This is my fault, so I will stay and see it through. I am ordering you back to Skyhold. I’ll evade them as long as I can until the reinforcements arrive. Go now!” she commanded her soldiers. 

Mara and Levi were reluctant, but they did as she asked. 

  


Once they left, Leah searched the ruins for places she could hide and memorized their locations. Then she sought out isolated red templars, engaged them and killed them before any others noticed. She repeated the process for hours. She hated to retreat and hide after each fight, but she couldn’t risk alerting the rest of the red templars. They would slay her in seconds without mercy. 

By the time the Inquisition’s new party arrived Leah was exhausted, but relieved to have help. The group included a reaver, an assassin, an archer and a mage. She felt better about their chances to clear out the ruins and escape in one piece. 

“Finally!” Leah said when they found her. “I’ve been able to kill a few of them, but there are still more waiting deeper within the ruins. I hope you’re ready for a fight.”

“Always, ser. Lead the way,” Tamar, the reaver, said.

“Good, let’s move.”

As she watched them fight, Leah could tell that the agents were still a little green. They were skilled fighters and she appreciated all of their abilities, but getting the group to work together as a team was a challenge. More than once a member of the party would be driven to the ground. If someone attempted to help them up, that person would be unprotected and vulnerable to attack. 

Tamar had a lust for blood, and liked to charge ahead of the squad. Argent, their assassin, seemed more focused on loot than the team’s survival. Hall, an archer, was often left behind and surrounded by enemy rogues. Their mage, Rion, tried to keep up with his fellow agents but never knew what they would do next and didn’t communicate what he was casting.

Leah felt like she had to be everywhere at once. This was supposed to be a team of reinforcements, but she felt pulled apart instead.

 _At least my soldiers try to watch out for each other_ , Leah thought to herself. _I need to do something about this._

“Hold up,” she called out. They were about to enter the shrine in the center of the ruins, which would be a veritable hornet’s nest of red templars. “Before we go inside, I want to speak with you.”

The agents gathered around her. 

“Compared to what we’ve faced so far, inside that room it will be ten times worse. I need you to be prepared for that. And while it may not feel like it yet, the people who fight beside you are your brothers and sisters. You fight for the Inquisition, and that means you protect your fellow soldier. You don’t rush ahead, you don’t disappear to loot treasure chests, and you communicate with each other. You have a plan, you call it out. You need help, you tell someone.” 

Leah looked around at their faces as her words sunk in. When she saw a self-conscious shift, twitch or frown from each one of them she nodded. “Good, I see you understand. I know we can make it out of here, but I cannot do it without you. All of you. Now,” she pointed at the chamber door with her sword. “Let’s get in there and show these red templars why you don’t mess with the Inquisition.”

As the battle in the main chamber began Leah was tired and frustrated but driven to finish it. She thought of her fallen soldiers and her duty to the Inquisition. She couldn’t fail them. But even more than that, she felt an obligation to herself to survive. There was so much left unfinished in her life. People she wasn’t ready to give up on or leave behind. 

The group moved together through the room until they found a corner with two openings to serve as choke points. Leah was pleased to see her speech had some effect; Hall and Rion kept their backs to the wall so they could send spells and arrows in either direction. Leah and Tamar took one choke point each. The two of them kept the red templars busy with their blades while Argent crept around behind the swarming mass of enemies. She took them out one by one, then returned to the shadows so she wouldn’t attract too much attention. Rion called out any spells spread over a wide area, and Hall warned them of incoming knights or horrors.

The tactic was working well. More red templars replaced the ones they had taken down, but Leah felt a small ray of hope that they would finish this without another life-threatening incident. Then she glanced out towards the middle of the room and cursed herself for daring to feel optimistic.

Samson, the Red Templar Commander, was headed their way. He towered over the other red templars. In their current space he could do serious damage to all five of them with one swing of his massive greatsword. 

“The Commander is on his way!” Leah called out. “Move south up the stairs, then around until we find an open area with more places to escape. This way!” 

She bashed her way through the enemies in front of her to clear a path. She held them back just long enough for the others to pass behind her and up the stairs. She gave the red templars a final shove and followed her team. 

They regrouped in a new area. The red templars were not far behind, but Leah and the agents had enough time for a breath before the battle continued. 

Leah searched the oncoming enemies for Samson, but didn’t see him. Where did he go? She thought to herself. Something to the left caught her eye, and she found out the answer to her question. 

Samson was not as easy to kite as his soldiers were. He saw Leah and the agents run and decided to cut them off from the other side. He was still on the lowest level of the room, but would reach the stairs any second. 

Leah looked around at the remaining red templars. There were maybe a dozen, and while the Inquisition agents were off their rhythm due to the change in location, they would be able to handle the stragglers. 

“I can’t believe I’m about to do this,” Leah said to herself. She turned to face the Samson. 

“Hey,” she shouted. She started down the stairs. “Taking a page from Meredith’s book, huh?”

“What is she doing?” Tamar said between swings. 

“What’s going on?” Hall asked, focused on his targets. “Are we pulling back again?”

Argent glanced over before resuming her fight with a guard. “No. Our leader appears to have a death wish.”

“Lieutenant?” Rion shouted. “Wait!”

Leah held a hand up to quiet them. She continued to advance on Samson. 

“Yeah, you probably don’t remember me. But I used to be a guard in Kirkwall, and I sure remember you. Begging in the streets. Doing anything just to get enough money for some more lyrium. But this is a new low. Working for a darkspawn magister to get your fix.”

Samson smirked and slung his greatsword over his shoulder.

Leah reached the bottom of the stairs and walked around Samson in a circle with her sword out. She kept her distance and waited for him to make a move. She wanted to be sure he was focused on her and not on the Inquisition agents. 

“Is this the best you can do?” she goaded him. “What are you waiting for? Are we going to keep dancing around each other or are you going to fight me?”

Samson grinned. He lifted his sword from his shoulder, pointed at her, and drew a finger over his throat. 

Leah stood her ground, her shield out. She held her sword back and low. She hoped to work at least one thrust in while holding him off with her shield. She didn’t anticipate the impact his sword would have.

He jogged towards Leah. When he reached her he swung his sword in a wide arc, and the sound of his blade against her shield rang out. 

Leah bent her knees and braced herself, but the force of his swing pushed her back a few feet. Her boots scraped along the stone floor. When she stopped she lowered herself to one knee. It already felt as if she had pulled several muscles in her arm, shoulder and back. 

“...Ow,” she grunted. 

When Leah looked up Samson was ready to make another strike from overhead. She rolled out of the way, taking the opportunity to attack him with one or two swings from a flanking position while she could. It was apparent now that she would have to be quick and stay one step ahead of him if she was going to win. The weight of her armor wouldn’t make that easy, and she was already worn out. 

It was stupid of her to have taunted Samson. It went against everything Leah had just told the Inquisition agents. But she knew they wouldn’t be able to handle both him and the remaining red templars. She had no choice now; she would finish what she started.

Leah used the space available to her to leap away from the wide arc of Samson’s sword. Whenever he started to back her into a wall or corner she ducked and rolled past him before jogging further off. She baited him into his most powerful swings, the ones that took him a second to redirect and allowed her a brief attack before she continued the process. 

She used all of the potions she had to keep going. When those ran out, she knew it was a matter of time before she misstepped. Her energy dwindled. 

Samson prepared for a large swing, then used the weight of his sword to turn around and around, building momentum and increasing the potential impact of his weapon with every second. Leah miscalculated his reach and was sent reeling when his sword caught her in her right shoulder. 

Leah regrouped and made a couple more strikes of her own once he stopped his whirling. But she made another crucial mistake during one of his heavy swings. She didn’t move soon enough and took his blade in her left leg this time. The pain was excruciating; she shrieked and fell to one knee. 

Samson laughed and held his sword high above Leah. Before he could finish her off, three arrows came out of nowhere and buried themselves in his right arm, shoulder and neck. He bellowed and grabbed the arrow in his neck. 

Leah’s eyes shot to her left. The others were finished with the red templars and coming to her aid. Rion conjured a barrage of elemental blasts that converged on Samson. Tamar and Argent were not far behind, but wouldn’t be able to do a thing until within melee range. 

Leah took advantage of the distraction to make a critical stab in a gap in Samson’s armor. He cried out again and staggered backwards, which gave her a moment to stand and breathe. 

When he regained his balance, he cracked the ground in two with his greatsword. The quake knocked Leah back and she rolled away from his sword. Her injuries screamed and begged her to stop, but Leah steeled herself against the pain and used the adrenaline that coursed through her body to get back on her feet and keep going. 

She roared, attacked again and hacked away at him until he was forced to one knee. Leah used every last bit of strength left within her to drive her sword through his chest. 

He locked eyes with her and gripped the blade of her sword with both hands. 

Leah sneered at him and twisted. 

The Commander’s hands loosened and he fell to the ground.

He was not dead-- it wouldn’t be that easy-- but Leah knew he would not be able to get up and follow them anytime soon. 

When the adrenaline wore off she almost collapsed. 

The four agents reached her in time to keep her upright. 

Leah waited for Rion to heal her enough to make it back to Skyhold.

“That was foolish,” Argent said. 

“Yet impressive,” Tamar countered.

“No, she’s right. That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. Or at least a close second. I lost two men to these damned ruins. They’d be alive if we had retreated.” Leah said. She took a deep breath and turned to Rion. “That’s good enough. Let’s go.” 

“But Lieutenant, you’re still injured. If you just give me another minute, I--”

“No,” Leah cut him off. He was right, but they couldn’t wait. “I’m fine. We need to leave before the red templar reinforcements arrive and the commander is revived. I’ve seen enough death for today.”

Rion gave her a reluctant nod. “As you wish, ser.”

  


By the time they reached Skyhold Leah was ready to drop. She stopped inside the gates for a moment, then forced her feet onwards. The activity in the courtyard stilled as she passed; sparring warriors paused, messengers slowed and healers turned a watchful eye. 

She collected every last ounce of energy left in her battered body to climb the stone staircase at the entrance to the keep. Her armor, streaked with blood and gore, had never felt so heavy. She heard every jostle and clink, and the sound seemed to grow louder with each step she took. 

Leah knew any of the four agents at her back would have been glad to help her up the stairs and into the keep, but she didn’t want to let on how bad her injuries were. 

I’m a lieutenant, she thought. I have to stay strong to set an example. 

Her body protested with each step she took, pure willpower the only thing keeping her upright. By the time Leah reached Skyhold’s heavy wooden doors she felt that no amount of ragged, labored breathing could relieve the tightness in her chest, and darkness began to intrude at the edges of her vision. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A sharp pain shot through her back and shoulder when she shoved both doors wide open. 

As the sunlight burst in upon the keep, those inside stopped what they were doing to see who had entered. Cullen, Leliana and Marcus, a fellow lieutenant, were in a tense huddle in the middle of the room. Mara and Levi stood nearby. Mara clutched Levi’s arm when she saw their Lieutenant.

“There she is,” Cullen said.

“Thank the Maker,” Marcus said as he walked towards her.

“I told you they would be fine,” Leliana followed them. She looked relieved despite her words. “Argent is an excellent assassin, they were in good hands.”

“We defeated the red templars ser,” Leah called out. Her voice echoed off the stone walls, sounding much stronger than she was feeling. It made her even more disoriented. She struggled to get enough air and her breath rasped in her throat, but she was determined not to let her injuries get the better of her just yet.

“Excellent work Lieutenant,” Cullen said. “When Mara and Levi reported you were still under siege we sent agents as fast as we could.”

“Next time you should--” Leah took another step forward, but was caught off guard by the weakness in her injured leg and cried out. Her vision swam and she fell to the ground on one knee. She felt her strength ebb away and her voice disappeared with it. _This is it_ , she thought. _This is how I die_.

“Lieutenant?” Levi said. 

“Someone help her!” Mara exclaimed.

Marcus rushed over to Leah. He reached her at the same time as Rion.

“Is she alright?” Cullen’s relief vanished. “What happened out there?”

“She’s hurt badly, Commander,” Rion supported Leah on her right to keep her from falling over. “The Red Templar Commander appeared at the end of the battle, and she took him on herself. I did the best that I could, but I think she has more injuries than she let on. It was brutal, ser.” 

“Oh Maker,” Mara covered her mouth with her hand. Levi put an arm around her. 

Marcus shot Cullen a worried look from his place on Leah’s left side. “I knew it. I knew something was wrong with that assignment. It was a trap. The red templars were waiting for them.”

“We weren’t ready, not for that,” Tamar admitted.

“ _You_ were not ready. I did not find it so difficult,” Argent crossed her arms over her chest.

“That’s funny, I seem to remember having to pick your bony ass off the ground a time or two,” Tamar said through clenched teeth.

“That’s because she never stayed still long enough for my barrier spell,” Rion shook his head.

“Enough! Someone go get a healer!” Cullen demanded. 

“On it Commander!” Hall sprinted away.

Tamar and Argent stopped their bickering, but continued to glare at one another.

Tamar sighed and looked away from the assassin. “Commander, if it hadn’t been for the Lieutenant we would have been slaughtered. She saved our lives.”

Cullen acknowledged Tamar’s assessment with a nod. He knelt down in front of Leah and tried to evaluate her injuries. There were the obvious wounds in her leg and shoulder. Her armor was battered and dented, which could mean she had internal bleeding. She was pale and her breaths were shallow.

“This doesn’t look good,” he said to Marcus.

Marcus shook his head. “No, she’ll make it. I know she will.”

“Marcus--” Cullen started. 

“No!” Marcus turned back to Leah. “Stay with us, you’re going to be okay,” his voice wavered and he swallowed hard. “You can’t leave us yet. We need you.”

“I’ll be fine, I just…” she started to slump more as she drifted away. The more she tried to focus, the more her mind and body rebelled against her as they sought the relief of unconsciousness. 

Marcus grabbed her around the waist to keep her upright. “Hold on! Where’s that healer?”

Mara and Levi exchanged worried looks. 

“They’re coming sir!” Tamar called out from the doorway.

“Marcus?” Leah came around for a moment, before her eyes began to lose focus again.

“I’m right here,” he responded.

“Am I going home?” she asked, delirious. A tear slipped down her face. “Do I get to go home now?”

A moment later everything was darkness.


End file.
